Fascinations
by AMessofPickles
Summary: Rose was studious to a fault but even she was not impervious to the distraction that was Scorpius Malfoy. How was she expected to get anything done when he was her Potion's partner and he looked at her that way? Next-gen. One-shot.


_Dedicated to the best friends a girl could ask for. Thanks for always being there for me A.M and M.M._

* * *

_"Stay or leave_  
_I want you not to go_  
_But you should_  
_It was good as good goes_  
_Stay or leave_  
_I want you not to go_  
_But you did"_

-Stay or Leave, Dave Matthews Band

* * *

He was fascinating to her.

The thought hit her in the head like a flock of pixies, and shocked her so much that a blot of ink spilled over her parchment.

_Godric_.

But it was true. She liked the way his body hunched over his work, his posture dwarfing the chair he sat in, knees bent and stuck under the small desk. His white-blonde hair flopped over his steel gray eyes, and his thin mouth was pulled firmly across his teeth in concentration. He was all angles, planes, and hard lines, and she could not keep her eyes off of him.

With a Herculean effort, Rose dragged her eyes back to the work in front of her. _Godric_.

It should have been a simple task. Just a foot of parchment on the advantages and disadvantages of nonverbal spells. It shouldn't have taken her _this long. _

But it did, and she blamed it all on the Slytherin seated nearly two seats away from her.

With a strangled sort of huff, Rose gathered her things haphazardly and stuffed them savagely into her book bag. With more force than necessary, she swung the strap onto her shoulder (narrowly missing a second year's head) and stalked out of the library with all the frustration that a teenage witch could muster.

This was the third time this had happened.

And, mind you, Rose Weasley was never the type to get easily distracted by the presence of a boy - never mind a _Slytherin boy_.

She was studious to a fault; she became an absolute _goblin_ while she was at the library. She regarded silence as something nearly holy when she was concentrating, and she snapped at anyone who dared disturb the peace.

It was a wonder she wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw.

No. Instead, she was sorted into Gryffindor, where the brave dwell at heart.

But she wasn't feeling so brave now. _Three _times she had left the library in a huff because he was near her, and _three_ times did she fail to mention anything to him.

But then again what was she supposed to do? Yell at the poor guy because he was somehow responsible for the feelings he invoked in her? If it was any guy she might have gone out of her way to talk to him - hell, she might have even asked him out to Hogesmeade.

But this was _Scorpius Malfoy_. She was a Gryffindor- a _Weasley_- and he...he was something completely out of the realm of normalcy. How had this managed to happen?

In retrospect she should have seen it coming...

His presence always hit her like the Knight Bus; everything about him made her brain go fuzzy. Perhaps it was the way his cool, gray eyes regarded her. They reminded her of hurricanes and nights where you sit by the fire because the storm outside made the windows rattle. He _always_ seemed to know just how to know just how to rattle her.

And it was bloody _annoying_. At this point she had to hole up in her dormitory since the Gryffindor was far to rowdy to get any actual work done.

How could she get _any_ work done when he was on her mind constantly?

None of this would have happened if they weren't paired up as potions partners, if she didn't start to actually _notice him_, and that _stupid_ night never happened.

It all started on an average Tuesday, four nights ago. Rose was in Scorpius' dorm for the project despite her protests. But she couldn't deny that she wasn't a _little _bit curious about the Slytherin dungeons. So she went willingly with him. Alone.

And it was fine for a while. She could almost ignore the little part of her that was admiring the broad slope of his shoulders or the contours of his high cheekbones. She could almost ignore the way his arm brushed against hers periodically on the walk to the Slytherin common rooms. She could almost ignore the way his palm brushed carefully, gently, _tenderly_, over the small of her back while they clambered through the dungeon door.

But then there anxiety crawling up her chest and into her throat as he invited her into his room. It felt like too much too much seeing his _room. _Sure he shared it with four other roommates, but she could clearly see his bed and his overflowing trunk and the paraphernalia that lined his corner of the room. (He seemed particularly fond of Puddlemere United, she noted.) It felt so personal and intimate and couple-y.

But even then everything was perfectly fine. Pleasant, even.

She sat on his bed like it was no big deal and they worked on their stupid potions project because it was _no big deal_.

But then they began arguing about the differences of small cauldrons versus large cauldrons. (He was such a moron. Small cauldrons were far more superior since you could control the potion more efficiently.) And then everything became so bloody pointless. Because they were arguing about _cauldrons _of all things, and she just couldn't take it.

And so she kissed him.

Stupidly, impulsively, recklessly, and...

Oh who was she kidding?

She bloody loved it. It was the best kiss she ever had, and she could still remember the way he gripped her waist and _dragged _her towards him. Because, even though she started it, he certainly ended it.

And they were angling their heads toward each other, potions work completely disregarded. And they gripped at the others' clothes and hair and skin. Pulling, gasping, breathing each other in and out, until they were falling backwards onto the bed.

It had never occurred to her, what a dangerous position that was. Because even though she was of age, she was still shy of boys who had the ability to make her knees tremble. She had never dated as much as her other friends, and was content with the boy relatives that she did have in her life.

But there was something so immense inside of her ribs that made it feel like she was splitting at the seams, so she pulled Scorpius towards her, her head resting against the fortress of pillows at the head of his bed. Her legs cradled his body as he settled on top of hers. His chest was hot, hot, hot against hers and his lips were so soft so soft and she loved the way he groaned when her nails raked across his scalp.

One of his hands left her side to glide against her arm, causing goosebumps to erupt quickly across her freckled skin, and intertwine with her hand, squeezing gently. Her heart was pounding against her sternum; her stomach was an avalanche of nerves so huge she couldn't even squeeze back while his hand continued to press on top of hers. Warm. Reassuring. Home.

And then his mouth was leaving hers to descended along the pale column of her neck. She could feel the slight stubble of his cheeks rub against her soft skin in the most delicious way and she wrapped her legs fully around his waist.

"Scorp-" she whispered hurriedly, while his mouth found her pulse point beneath her jaw. He grunted in response and her hands quickly descended under his shirt.

She clawed at his shirt while he continued the assault on her neck. It was like a kind of starvation, being so close to another, but not being able to touch, feel, breathe in the other's skin.

And, just as she was finishing up with the buttons on his shirt, the door to his dormitory jiggled.

Fast as hippogriff, they were jerking away from each other, fixing rumpled appearances, and straightening shirts and skirts. Rose's heart was in her throat, and she avoided Scorpius' penetrating gaze as his roommate entered.

With a hasty excuse and a betraying blush, she quickly left his dorm and practically sprinted back to the Gryffindor tower.

Rose left out a stifled, exasperated breath as she recalled her swift getaway four nights ago. She hadn't said a word to him since despite the fact that they were supposed to be working on their project. During potions class, she had taken to ignoring his piercing gaze, and only talking to him when absolutely necessary.

She could barely face him after the humiliating stunt she pulled in his dorm. _Merlin_, she practically threw herself at him.

However, the most confounding thing to her was _his _reaction. For someone who was suppossed to dislike her, he seemed far too enthusiastic when he was kissing her.

But no. He did _not_ like her like that...right?

As if on cue she heard someone holler, "Rose!" behind her, and she paused despite her better judgment.

She seemed to freeze in place when she realized who had called her name.

"Er..." she started dumbly.

"You've been avoiding me," Scorpius accused blatantly, his figure leaning towards her to compensate for her lack of height.

It took a moment for his words to process in her mind, but when they did she immediately snapped, "Excuse me?"

_Tell me this means something to you._

"We have a potions project to complete, and we've barely got half of it done," Scorpius pointed out, his eyebrows furrowing together as his eyes searched her face. The way he looked at her made her heartbeat spike up in tempo.

Rose forced herself to not be disappointed at his words. Instead she glanced down at her shoes and nodded, trying to tamp down the hot flush that spread over her cheeks.

"Yes. Yes, you're absolutely right. We should work on that-"

"But on one condition..."

Rose's head snapped up to meet his dark, hooded gaze. _Godric_. His expression made her toes curl, and she unconsciously raised her chin to meet his heated stare. _Tell me you can't take your eyes off of me. Tell me that you think about me during the day._

"What?" she asked, her voice breathless to her utter embarrassment. _That I'm in your mind constantly._

_Tell me that I mean something to you_

Scorpius' mouth turned up at the corners as he continued arrogantly, "We get to do what we did in my dorm again."

The blush that had started in his presence managed to make its way to the tips of her ears and the column of her neck. She was scarlet with surprise.

She managed to choke out a shrill, "What?!"

Instead of answering, Scorpius just tipped her chin up with a single finger, and slanted his mouth across hers. She sighed into the kiss, and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck so she could thread her fingers through his soft, blonde hair. Hands closed around hips while chests pressed tightly together. Their bodies folded together like the chapters of a novel.

When they pulled apart, they were both grinning widely.

Needless to say, they did not get much potions work done that night.

* * *

_A/N: To all the people struggling to stay focused near the end of the school year, this one is for you. **Review Challenge: What are your summer plans? What's your favorite thing about Scorose? What movie are you most excited to see?**_

_Anyways I wrote this piece as a celebration of my three years of writing here on Fanfiction since this was when my first story was published. And, of course, I had to celebrate with my OTP Scorose since I have missed them dearly. Writing about them is like coming home, and I hope you enjoyed reading this short story!_

_It's been an amazing journey these three years. Thank you to all of the people that have helped me improve my writing including my past betas, good friends and FF, and the people that have always reviewed my stories. I've improved vastly over these past three years just through the support you give me in your reviews. Thank you for putting up with my late replies and occasionally unedited chapters. It means the world to me. Here's to another three years!_

_Love you all!_  
_Pickles_

_P.S I would love some Scorose prompts so feel free to leave them in the review!_


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